Saturday, January 14, 2017

A piece in the Boston Globe provides a timely summary of where America finds itself less than a week from the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, a possible traitor who may have collaborated with a hostile foreign government to steal the presidential election for himself. Adding to the cause for fear is Trump's clear intention to disregard the U. S. Constitution and the fact that the Republican controlled Congress could care less. Rather than facing up to and taking action against the perhaps the greatest threat to the nation since the Civil War, Republicans have one fixation: repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act and depriving millions of Americans of health insurance coverage and triggering a crisis within the health care industry that literally could force hospitals to file for bankruptcy close. If there is any positive glimmer it is that Trump voters will be disproportionately harmed by the policies of the Republicans they voted into office. Here are column highlights:

I have spent much of my life reading and writing about
American politics, but nothing I’ve seen before has prepared me for what
happened this week. Increasingly, it feels as though the country is careening
out of control and heading straight off a cliff — and nothing can slow it down.

We’ve found outthat the
Trump campaign may have been in direct contact with the Russian government to
throw the election to him. We’ve discovered that the FBI sought and eventually
received a FISA warrant to look at phone calls allegedly related to this
question.

We found out that the intelligence community found these
claims credible enough that theybrought them to the attentionof both
President Obama and Trump.

Information has been leaked that suggests Mike Flynn,
Trump’s national security adviser,phonedRussia’s ambassador the United States
multiple times on the day that the Obama Administration announced sanctions
against Russia for its efforts to undermine the US election.

If evidence emerges of collusion between Trump’s advisers and
the Russian government, it would represent a potential constitutional crisis.
That we are a week away from Trump’s inauguration and we don’t know the truth
behind these allegations is terrifying.

As if this isn’t bad enough, we are also a week away from
what will unambiguously be a constitutional crisis — namely Trump’s refusal to
disentangle himself from his variousbusiness enterprises. It’s not an exaggeration to say that at the
moment Trump takes the oath of office, he will be in violation of the
Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bans the president from taking gifts or
payments from a foreign entity or individual. Since Trump does not believe that
conflict of interest laws apply to him at all and that he’s under no obligation
to ensure that he is not profiting from being president, he will take office
under an ethical cloud that we’ve never seen in the 240-year history of the
United States.

Republicans
in Congress are too busy pushing forward with a plan to repeal Obamacare and in
the process, take health insurance away from 20-30 million Americans. They are
doing this with minimal debate and with no effort to engage Democrats, the
American people, or those who are at risk of losing insurance coverage. Worst
of all, there is zero indication that Republicans fully appreciate the
potentially catastrophic consequences of what they are preparing to do.

Meanwhile, the president-elect is giving press conferences in
which he is bashing the news media for reporting stories he doesn’t like and
branding it, falsely, as fake news.

Taken all together, this confluence of events represents
perhaps the most profound political crisis that this country has faced since
Watergate. We have a president-elect fully prepared to violate the
Constitution. We have allegations that his advisers might have worked directly
with a foreign government to win the presidential election and who could also,
potentially, be blackmailed by that same government. We have a Congress
indifferent to these potential crises and focused instead on repealing
legislation that will literally cause the premature deaths of thousands of
Americans.

It’s almost hard to take all of this in. It’s a disorienting and
surreal moment in our history and the worst part is that last week might have
represented the calm before the true storm.

A piece in the New York Times lays out the threat Donald Trump poses to NATO and the Western Alliance that has maintained peace in Europe since 1945 as he insanely succumbs to Vladimir Putin's flattery - or perhaps more likely blackmail as further elaborated in a Washington Post piece. What is frightening is that the always self-absorbed Trump is seemingly oblivious to the manner in which he is being played by Putin, a former head of the Soviet Union's KGB, an organization that specialized in assassinations, torture and, of course, blackmail and intimidation. First these highlights from the Times column:

There’s
a mood of confidence in Moscow bordering on triumphalism. Russia is dictating
the grim outcome in Syria. It has annexed with impunity part of Ukraine and set
limits on the country’s Westernizing ambitions. It has influenced through
hacking the outcome of the American election. It has fostered the fracture of
the European Union.

In addition, whether or not Donald
Trump was ever lured into some Moscow honey trap (the oldest trick
in town for Vladimir Putin’s intelligence services), Russia has reason to
regard with satisfaction the coming presidency. Trump has called Putin “very smart” and “very much of a leader” (more than Obama);
he has cheered on a British exit from the European Union; he has signaled deep
skepticism of NATO; he has, in short, intimated that he
may be ready to be complicit with Putin in the dismemberment of the Western
alliance.

America’s European allies
are in a state of high anxiety. For the first time in decades there seems to be
a possibility that the White House will deal with Moscow at Europe’s expense.

No more important challenge awaits Trump than clarifying where he
stands on Putin’s threat to the West. Hurtling into some macho love fest with
Vlad based on the vague shared aim of smashing ISIS would be calamitous. Trump
said that if Putin likes him, “That’s called an asset, not a liability.”
Wrong. It’s a liability if Trump is so susceptible to being liked he forgets to
be tough.

Trump must make clear soon
after Jan. 20 that the United States stands by its NATO allies in the Baltics
and that Article 5 of the NATO treaty guaranteeing collective defense is
sacrosanct. Trump must leave no doubt that sanctions imposed on Russia for the
annexation of Crimea and for interference in the American election will stand.
He must warn Putin against attempts, in a reprise of the American operation, to
sway the French and German elections through hacking and fake news.

Putin believes the way to restore Russia’s great power status is at
the expense of an American-led order, particularly in Europe, but also in the
Middle East,” William Burns, a former deputy secretary of state and the
president of the Carnegie Endowment, told me. “Trump must recognize this
without any illusions.”

I don’t know if he can.
Dispensing with illusions means curtailing impulsiveness and the gut instincts
that constitute Trump’s worldview, such as it is. Trump is drawn to Putin’s
authoritarianism, toughness and embodiment of white Christian resolve against
threatening (read Muslim) hordes. He needs to get over these inclinations fast
and get on with defending the free world.

Trump’s approach to Russia is “a travesty” and has “raised more
questions about our leadership than at any time since the 1920s,” Nicholas
Burns, a Harvard professor, told me. More alpha-dog Trump-Putin connivance will
endanger the world.

It is said
that a century ago, Czar Nicholas II of Russia wrote in his diary, “The year
1916 was cursed; 1917 will surely be better!” Illusion is the mother of
disaster, as Trump will learn if he does not change course on Russia.

For those, including Trump and his sycophants and propagandists who down play the likelihood that Russia has blackmail information on Trump, the Washington Post piece should be an eye opener. Here are highlights:

In 1999,
Russia’s prosecutor general — the rough equivalent of a U.S. attorney
general — vowed to investigate corruption allegations involving the family
of then-President Boris Yeltsin.

Then a funny thing happened.
Russian TV began showing grainy video footage of the prosecutor,Yuri Skuratov, cavorting in the nude with two young women.
Some observers expressed skepticism that the man in the video was actually
Skuratov. But any doubts were put to rest by the head of Russia’s internal
security service, who declared that his agency’s experts had confirmed the
prosecutor’s identity. The man who made the statement was Vladimir Putin, and
his words sealed Skuratov’s political fate.

A
liberal political rival wants to be president? Have the evening newsshow an interviewwith members of a gay club singing
his praises (a great way to discredit him in the eyes of a homophobic public).
A billionaire oligarch challenges your power? Dig into hisseamy financial dealingsand share them with muckrakers. An elderly
dissident criticizes you from the safety of British exile? Have your hackers
covertlyplant child pornographyon his computer and notify the
relevant authorities. As these examples show, kompromat is best viewed as a
form of information warfare, sometimes true, sometimes not. More often it’s an
artful mixture — all the better to intimidate and confuse.

Donald
Trump actually seems to know all this quite well.. . . .If he knows the place
so well, though, he must realize that, when it comes to the business of
blackmail and intimidation, Russia is indeed in a class of its own. Only Moscow
has transformed the principle of kompromat into a major component of its
foreign policy. Europeans both East and West witness daily how the Kremlin
deploys information against the people and institutions it wants to destroy or
control. In places such as Swedenandthe Czech Republic, Moscow operates dozens of websites purveying conspiracy
theories and falsified news, all aimed at discrediting its myriad enemies. The
Russian hand has made itself felt in the outcomes of last year’s Britishvote to leave the E.U. and a Dutch referendum on relations with Ukraine. No
other country has been doing anything like this on a comparable scale.

The recipe in
each case may differ, but the objective is always the same: to weaken Western
institutions, such as NATO and the E.U., that are capable of offering a united
front against Russian designs. This strategy should tell you everything you
need to know about Putin’s plans and the nature of the system that he runs.

[W]hy does he [Trump]
continue to preach the need for a friendlier relationship with Russia? Is a
government that operates the way that Putin’s does — spreading lies in the
shadows — really the one that you want as an ally? One can’t help but
wonder.

I think the answer to this last question is that Putin has information on Trump and Trump knows this. The question then becomes one of how willing is Trump to throw the American people and America's allies under the bus to keep a lid on the blackmail materials Putin is holding? Be very afraid.

As the previous post noted, the number of LGBT Americans is growing as is their acceptance by larger and larger portions of the general population. Indeed, 68% of Americans now support same sex marriage or some form of legal recognition of same sex relationships. The exception to this trend? The Christofascist and falsely named "family values" organization, many of which are certified hate groups, and, of course, scamvangelists like Pat Robertson and similar carnival barkers who use religion to fleece the ignorant and gullible while enriching themselves. Sadly, Mike Pence is himself one of these religious extremists and Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Fuhrer, sold his soul to the Christofascist leadership in exchange for evangelical support. Trump is now keeping his bargain with these foul people by way of his cabinet nominees and legislation he has promised to support. Ben Carson displayed the war about to be launched against the LGBT community when he said he opposed "extra rights" for LGBT Americans. Seemingly, in Carson addled mind, being treated equally and not being subjected to discrimination for which other demographics already enjoy have legal protections constitutes "extra rights." Unfortunately, Carson is the norm among Trump's cabinet appointees. LGBTQ Nation looks at Carson's disturbing view of LGBT citizens and taxpayers. Here are excerpts:

Ben Carson was asked about his
position on LGBT housing discrimination
and said he opposed “extra rights” for LGBT people.

In confirmation hearings for the
Housing and Urban Development Secretary-nominee on Thursday, Senator
Sherrod Brown pressed Carson on whether he believed the HUD had “a duty” to
take actions to reduce anti-LGBT discrimination.

“Of course, I would enforce all the
laws of the land,” Carson responded. “And I believe that all Americans
regardless of any of the things that you mentioned should be protected by the
law. What I have mentioned in the past is the fact that no one gets extra
rights. Extra rights means you get to redefine everything for everybody else.
That doesn’t seem very fair to me.”

Later, in response to a question
from Senator Cortez Masto, Carson said he would “absolutely” protect the LGBTQ
communinity from discrimination.

It is unclear what exactly Carson
meant in his answer. There is no statutory law that prohibits housing
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and discrimination on the
basis of gender identity is only actionable under
the Fair Housing Act’s ban on sex-based discrimination. Discrimination is only
prohibited by the HUD’s Equal Access Rule that bans discrimination in
FHA-backed loans.

The term “extra rights” is also
unclear in this context. Carson defined it as “to redefine everything for
everybody else,” an apparent reference to same-sex
marriage rights, which the HUD does not regulate.

While the Christofascist may have won the battle of the 2016 presidential election by putting Donald Trump, ironically, a morally bankrupt individual, in the White House, they continue to lose the larger cultural war, especially when it comes to the visibility and self-identification of LGBT individuals in American society. Not only are the number of gays increasing in every state and across ever demographic of the population, but the acceleration of the phenomenon is increasing, especially among Millennials. And with increased LGBT visibility, experience has shown that growing visibility correlates with (i) growing societal acceptance, and (ii) increases in those who have walked away from organized religion. Indeed, white evangelical Christians are a shrinking portion of American society notwithstanding the Republican Party's never ending self prostitution to a demographic increasingly know for its hatred of others by a majority of Americans, certainly among the younger generations.

A new Gallup survey has a number of findings that religious extremists like Vice President elect Mike Pence will find alarming, not the least of which is that 7.3% of Millennials identify as LGBT. The Christofascist myth that gays are only 1-3% of the population is clearly wrong. Personally, I have always believed that if the stigma manufactured by religion were to suddenly disappear, the true number of LGBT individuals in society might hit 10% or more of Americans. Here are some survey highlights:

The
portion of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender
(LGBT) increased to 4.1% in 2016 from 3.5% in 2012. These figures, drawn from
the largest representative sample of LGBT Americans collected in the U.S.,
imply that more than an estimated 10 million adults now identify as LGBT in the
U.S. today, approximately 1.75 million more compared with 2012.

Millennials,
defined here as those born between 1980 and 1998, drive virtually all of the
increases observed in overall LGBT self-identification. The portion of that
generation identifying as LGBT increased from 5.8% in 2012 to 7.3% in 2016.
LGBT identification remained relatively stable over the five-year period at
3.2% among Generation X and declined slightly from 2.7% to 2.4% among baby
boomers and from 1.8% to 1.4% among traditionalists.

Among
racial and ethnic minorities, the largest increases since 2012 in LGBT
identification occurred among Asians (3.5% to 4.9%) and Hispanics (4.3% to
5.4%). Among whites, the comparable figures are 3.2% to 3.6%. Black Americans
showed only a slight increase from 4.4% to 4.6%, and among "other"
racial and ethnic groups, the increase was from 6.0% to 6.3%.

While
the portion of LGBT individuals decreases with income, all income groups saw
similar increases in the proportion of adults identifying as LGBT.

The
proportion of highly or moderately religious adults who identified as LGBT
remained virtually the same between 2012 and 2016, but increased from 5.3% to
7.0% among those who are not religious. As a result, nonreligious adults are
now more than three times more likely to identify as LGBT than those who are
highly religious.

Self-identification
as LGBT represents only one aspect of measuring sexual orientation and gender
identity. For example, research shows that direct assessments of
same-sex sexual behavior or attraction yield very different (and often larger)
population estimates when compared with estimates of LGBT self-identification.

Gallup research shows that data security
and confidentiality are not major concerns of millennials. This could be one
factor that explains why they are so much more likely to identify as LGBT when
compared with other generations. They are more comfortable than their older
counterparts with the idea of sharing what some might consider private
information on surveys.

Perhaps an even
larger factor concerns the differences in social climate that existed when
individuals were teenagers and young adults. This is when many LGBT people
begin the process of coming out and sharing their sexual orientation and gender
identity with others.

Since 1977, Gallup has asked Americans if they think
that gay and lesbian relationships between consenting adults should be legal.
In July 1986, just 32% supported legalization of same-sex relationships,
marking a low point in that support in Gallup polling. By 1999, when the first
millennials were becoming adults, half of Americans supported legalization and,
as of May 2016, the figure had risen to 68%.

In
a span of only five years, the demographic composition of Americans who
identify as LGBT has markedly changed. It has become larger, younger, more
female and less religious. These demographic traits are of interest to a wide
range of constituencies.

Corporate
America also increasingly views the LGBT community as a market for consumer
products and services and actively courts its support.

As Christofascist in the Trump/Pence nightmare regime - e.g., Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos, Rex Tillerson, Ben Carson - wage war on LGBT Americans, I expect the exodus from organized religion will accelerate and the contempt with which evangelical and fundamentalist Christians are viewed will correspondingly increase. If we are lucky as a nation, the Trump/Pence nightmare will be white heterosexual fundamentalist Christians last hurrah and when looked back upon by history will, in fact, have been what ultimately killed fundamentalist Christianity as a political force. The over reaching and hypocrisy of these people is about to be put on high display and will show that they care nothing about others and that their policies are the antithesis of the Gospel message.

P.S., not sure what's going on with South Dakota, but 5% of the population identifying as LGBT was a surprise.

One of the first things that would be dictators do is to discredit and undermine the free press since it represents the greatest threat to their quest for power. The ultimate goal is to eventually control the press and change reality in the minds of the public to fit the fake reality that the dictator wants to impose. Frighteningly, Donald Trump has already begun this process as demonstrated by his repeated lies, constant attacks on any portions of the media not pumping out his propaganda and lies. One can only hope that while there is still time, the media will ferret out enough truth and facts to destroy Trump before he destroys American democracy. Indeed, as Der Fuhrer increasingly shows himself as a threat to world order, perhaps allied nation intelligence services will find and release bombshell information that will force even traitorous and power mad Republicans to flee Trump. A piece in Vanity Fair looks at Trump's war on the media. Here are highlights:

So,
who won this week? So far,Donald Trump. During a press
conference, his first since winning the election, he sounded entirely unruffled
by BuzzFeed’s disclosure of unverified opposition
research alleging ties between himself and Russia. Trump said that he was
always hyper-aware of surveillance when he was traveling abroad and suggested
that he would never do something as stupid as hiring local prostitutes to relieve
themselves on the bed of a Moscow hotel suite—and he said it in a way that
managed to make the charge look silly, as indeed it probably is. He openly
insulted BuzzFeed as a “failing pile of garbage” and insulted CNN as a purveyor
of “fake news,” passing over its reporter Jim Acosta and telling him to be quiet when Acosta kept
talking anyway. Trump also used the news of the hour to take attention off of
what appeared to be inadequate measures to protect against
conflicts of interest between his business and his new day job.

Trump
is now as powerful as ever, and if you want to topple him, you’d better have
your army in order. This is a good lesson and a bad lesson. It’s good because,
if a truly scandalous story emerges, journalists have to do it properly. It’s
bad because it feeds into what seems to be a tacit assumption that the
criterion for journalism in the Trump administration will be its power to shake
the foundations of the presidency.

Journalists
also learned to withhold documents from the public unless the claims within
them have been thoroughly investigated. This, again, is both a good lesson and
bad lesson. It’s a good lesson, because nothing good can come of reputable
publications trafficking in rumor and gossip as if they’re In Touch.
But it’s a bad one, too, because journalists are also way too willing to hide
their work, as if readers must be shielded from the bright light of primary
sources. When BuzzFeed disclosed the document in full, ordinary readers got to
see an ill-kept secret that had been circulating all through the halls of
journalism and government. Regular Americans at this point deserved to see it,
too, and they’re probably better off for it, even if BuzzFeed isn’t. Better
lesson: when you make a call to disclose the raw evidence, try to give a
detailed annotation on what we know and don’t, and don’t just toss out a facile
line about doing it so that “Americans can make up their own minds about [the]
allegations.”

All
of this has been distracting from more important troubles, like Trump’s
conflicts of interest or his more dubious nominees. Mike Pompeo
is a genuinely disconcerting nominee for heading up the C.I.A., far too
inclined, it seems, to overestimate threats. Ben Carson is
almost certain to be bad news at H.U.D., not because of his convictions, but
because of his lack of knowledge.

We
learned, too, that holding Trump accountable will be very, very hard, and the
blame for that rests with far more than just Trump. Mainstream journalists have
been asking why they’ve been losing credibility with the public, often blaming
right-wing media and fake news. Rarely considered is the possibility that we’ve
lost the trust of readers because we’re not trustworthy. . . . Instead, the
issue is just that the media increasingly sees only what it wants to see. . . .
Much of the work of mainstream watchdogging will depend on buy-in from the
right if it’s going to matter. That’s just the way of it.

Finally,
we learned this week that the intelligence community may well be going to war
with our incoming president. . . . . For the moment, our press outlets and our
intelligence agencies seem to be mounting nothing organized, just running stray
sorties. But if something more coordinated emerges, with the intelligence world
joining forces with reporters to mount a serious effort to remove Trump from
power, things could very ugly. It would also be very dangerous.

Some in the news media have tried to depict Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Fuhrer, as the most gay-friendly Republican president-elect in history. Nothing could be more untrue. First, the comparison sets an extremely low bar. Remeber Ronald Reagan who did nothing to assist long time friend Rock Hudson as he was dying of AIDS? The there was "Chimperator" George W. Bush who used anti-gay animus to rally the Christofascists to return him to the White House in 2004. More importantly, the ridiculous statement ignores two things: (i) Trump's pick of the hysterically anti-gay Mike Pence as his running mate, and (ii) Trump's pact with the Christofascists last June which he is fulfilling by nomination for the most part extreme homophobes to his cabinet. "Friends" who voted for Trump/Pence conveniently ignore these points and feign shock that members of the LGBT community are fearful for the future. A piece in Keen News Source lays out what LGBT Americans may face during Der Fuhrer's first 100 days. Here are highlights:

No matter what
Trump might do as president to signal his unique level of comfort with LGBT
people compared to his Republican conservative base, the departure of President
Obama, indisputably the most pro-gay president in history, will stand in stark
contrast to what many LGBT people fear will become an inevitable string of
disappointing inactions (at best) and hostile attacks (at worst).

And the hopes
for a better tomorrow for LGBT people –hopes that Democratic presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton made abundantly clear she supported – are replaced now
with the uneasy feeling that anti-LGBT legislation will breeze through a
Republican-dominated Congress and be signed as part of some “deal” President
Trump might feel compelled to make to demonstrate his solidarity with his rabid
right base and a certain admired foreign leader.

So, what exactly
should the LGBT community be braced to see? Here’s a look at the most likely
events in Trump’s first 100 days:

The
Executive Branch:Contractor
discrimination: President Obama signed an executive order in July 2014 that
prohibits contractors doing business with the federal government from
discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It also added
gender identity to a previously existing Executive Order 13087 that prohibits
discrimination against federal employees based on sexual orientation. Trump
could rescind both executive orders . . . .

Hospital
Memorandum: President Obama issued a memorandum April 15, 2010, calling for an
end to discrimination against LGBT people by hospital visitation policies that
limit visitors to immediate family members. The directive applies to hospitals
receiving federal funds through Medicare and Medicaid. Many same-sex couples
now have the benefit of marriage to protect those visitation rights, but not
all same-sex couples with close, long-term relationships do.

Education
discrimination: In May 2016, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice
issued a “Dear Colleague” letter advising schools that discrimination against
transgender students violates a federal law against sex discrimination. The
Trump administration could issue a new letter with its own interpretation of
the reach of Title IX. And Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy
DeVos, was a leading supporter of a 2004 ballot campaign against marriage
equality in Michigan, and her family has given millions to anti-LGBT causes and
groups.

Health
discrimination: In May last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services issued regulations stating that the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition
on sex discrimination in health coverage and care includes a prohibition on
discrimination based on gender identity. The Trump HHS could issue its own
interpretation of the ACA’s sex discrimination. Trump’s nominee for Secretary
of HHS, Tom Price, has a long history of hostility toward the LGBT community.
Plus Trump has already made clear that he would like to repeal the ACA.

The
Republican-led Congress:Nullifying
executive orders: Even if President Trump chooses not to rescind any of
President Obama’s executive orders or memoranda, Congress could pass
legislation to nullify any or all of them, and one Trump ally, former House
Speaker Newt Gingrich, predicted last month that Trump would rescind 70 percent
of President Obama’s executive orders. So a Trump veto on such action by
Congress seems unlikely.

First Amendment
Defense Act: This bill was introduced to Congress shortly
before the Supreme Court’s ruling that said state bans on marriage for same-sex
couples are unconstitutional. The FADA is part of the effort to circumvent laws
that prohibit discrimination against same-sex couples. It would allow a person
or business discriminating against LGBT people to defend themselves by claiming
the discrimination is an exercise of the person or business’s religious
beliefs.

Johnson
Amendment repeal: The Johnson Amendment is a law that ensures taxpayer money is
not used to subsidize partisan political activity. Trump has said he wants the
Johnson Amendment repealed because it prevents clergy from speaking about
politics from the pulpit. A bill to repeal the Johnson Amendment was introduced
January 3.

In the
courts:The Supreme Court nominee: The most long-standing influence Trump
could have on the LGBT community is through his choice or choices to fill U.S.
Supreme Court seats. He released lists of potential nominees last year, and
they all look decidedly conservative and some have a history of hostility
toward equal rights for LGBT people. He will almost certainly announce his
first choice within the first 100 days, to fill the seat vacated by the death
of right-wing Justice Antonin Scalia last February. Replacing one right-wing
justice with another right-wing justice may not tip the court’s balance, but it
will re-establishes a necessary four-vote bloc needed to accept conservative
appeals for review. And a second Trump opportunity to nominate a justice will
almost certainly bend the arc of the moral universe at the high court away from
justice for the LGBT community.

The North
Carolina challenge: Under the Obama administration, the Department of Justice
filed a lawsuit against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law HB2. . . . If confirmed
by the Senate, it seems likely Sessions, with the support of Trump, will
withdraw the U.S.’s lawsuit against the North Carolina law. It also seems
likely the Trump DOJ will weigh in on the side of North Carolina should the
Supreme Court eventually review the constitutionality of HB2 as other lawsuits
against it continue. And similar bills are now proceeding through the
Texas and Virginia legislatures.

The Title IX
showdown: In the spring, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case, Gloucester
v. Grimm, to decide whether Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination
in schools should be read to include a prohibition on gender identity
discrimination. Under the Obama administration, the Department of Justice
supported the transgender student’s claim . . . . Under
the Trump administration, a DOJ led by Sessions will almost certainly take
sides with the Gloucester school district.

The Trump/Pence regime will likely be a continuing nightmare for LGBT Americans. As for my "friends" who voted for this, they should not be surprised that I no longer trust them and will never feel the same level of friendship or affection for them. True friends do not vote for those who seek to ruin your life and open the door to discrimination against. The "I did not know" excuse gets nowhere with me. 15 minutes on the Internet would have revealed all of this. I will not forgive such "friends" for the abject laziness.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

First we had Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions denying that LGBT Americans face discrimination. Now, during his confirmation hearings, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State nominee, won't admit that gay rights are human rights. Yet "friends" who voted for Trump continue to be baffled as to why I remain upset with them and find being around them difficult. I truly wish that these individuals had to walk in the shoes of typical LGBT citizens who fear firing daily and other sorts of discrimination so that they could get their heads out of their asses. Here are highlights from the Washington Blade:

President-elect Trump’s nominee for
secretary of state on Wednesday declined to specifically say whether “gay
rights are human rights.”

“American values don’t accommodate
violence or discrimination against anyone,” said former ExxonMobil CEO Rex
Tillerson in response to a question U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) asked during
his confirmation hearing that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held.

Coons also asked Tillerson whether
he believes the promotion of gay rights is “a piece of our human rights
advocacy and agenda around the world.”

Coons noted in
his question that he previously met with a woman from Zimbabwe who received
asylum in the U.S. because she was tortured “for who she was.” He also told
Tillerson, who was a member of the Boy Scouts of America’s executive board when
it voted to allow openly gay scouts into the organization in 2013, that he was
“encouraged by his tough leadership moment.”

The promotion of
LGBT and intersex rights abroad has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy
during President Obama’s second term.

Tillerson
on Wednesday did not say whether the Trump administration would continue the
Obama administration’s policy. It also remains unclear whether the position of
special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBT and intersex rights will remain at
the State Department.

If Donald Trump did collaborate with Vladimir Putin to steal the 2016 presidential election, it increasingly looks like they had an accomplice" FBI director James Comey who broke long time precedent and floated a letter against Hillary Clinton just eleven days before election day. The letter turned out to have no basis - something likely known by Comey. Meanwhile he was sitting on explosive information about Trump's possible collusion with Putin and the likelihood that Putin had information with which to blackmail Trump once he was in office. If Comey wasn't an actual Russian agent, he surely gave a major assist to Putin plans to put his puppet in the White House. As a column in the Washington Post notes, Comey is about of excuses for his actions harming Clinton while protecting Trump. Here are column highlights:

The
rash of stories on Donald Trump and Russia published Tuesday leave many
questions unanswered. The allegations, as sensational as some are and as
damning as others are, are just that: allegations. Intelligence agencies (not
to mention countless news outlets) have sought to verify them for months now,
with little or no success. Though it might be nice to imagine Trump’s
presidency collapsing before it’s even begun, the fact remains that we know
little more now than we did last week about Trump’s ties to Russia
and whether Vladimir Putin’s government has compromising information on the
president-elect. There is one thing we do know, though: FBI Director James
Comey’s intervention in the election last October — controversial at the time —
looks completely indefensible now.

A
few hours before the explosive CNN and BuzzFeed reports landed on Tuesday,
Comey was at a Senate intelligence committee hearing on Russian
interference in the 2016 election. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the director
whether the FBI has “investigated these reported relationships [between the
Trump campaign and Russia]?” Comey replied, “I would never comment on
investigations … in an open forum like this.” When Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)
pressed Comey on the same question later in the hearing, he repeated that
“especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending
investigation.” (King dryly replied, “The irony of your making that statement
here, I cannot avoid.”)

So
Comey understands that the FBI weighing in publicly on open investigations,
when charges are still being proved, is unwise. Doing so puts those being
investigated at the mercy of innuendo and rumor. Yet Comey ditched this rule
when he notified Congress 11 days before the election that the FBI was looking
into whether there were previously unrevealed emails from Hillary Clinton on a
laptop belonging to her aide’s estranged husband. (It should also be noted that
this followed months of anti-Clinton leaks from Rudy Giuliani’s friends in the FBI’s New York field
office.)

Comey’s behavior
remains inexcusable. It is a shocking and disturbing double
standard: staying silent on allegations against one candidate despite
reams of new information, while reviving allegations against another candidate
despite absolutely no new information.

It is unlikely
that a Trump administration will punish Comey for this mistake. History,
however, will not judge him so kindly.

While Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Fuhrer and his sycophants and paid liars continue to whine that the dossiers released detailing Trump's ties to Russia and the blackmail information Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has on Trump is "fake news," the British Broadcasting Corporation ("BBC" says it has a second source that backs up the information released by CNN and BuzzFeed. That is what The Week is reporting no doubt to the growing dismay of the non-brain dead Trump voters who may be starting to realize that they were conned by a possible traitor and his inner circle. Suffice it to say, the U.S. intelligence agencies need to shift into high gear and verify the claims against Trump and, once verified, Trump and other participants needs to be indicted and prosecuted. Here are highlights from the story in The Week:

BBC
correspondent Paul Wood came forward Wednesday to reveal that there are
multiple intelligence sources alleging Russia is in possession of potentially
embarrassing or compromising material regarding President-elect Donald Trump.
Formerly, only a single source was known to have been aware of the alleged
material.

"I saw the
report, compiled by the former British intelligence officer, back in
October," Woodsaid.
"He is not, and this is the crucial thing, the only source for this.”The Wall Street Journalallegesthe
British source is Christopher Steele, a director of the London-based Orbis
Business Intelligence Ltd.

A member of
the U.S. intelligence community also told Wood that "at least one East
European intelligence service was aware 'that the Russians hadkompromator compromising material on Mr.
Trump,'"Raw Storyreports.
Wood said that he "got a message back" from the U.S. intelligence
community member and that there is reportedly "more than one tape, not
just video, but audio as well, on more than one date, in more than one place,
in both Moscow and St. Petersburg."

BuzzFeedNewshas been heavily criticized forpublishing the unsubstantiated intelligence in fullTuesday night,
which alleges collusion between Trump and Russia as well as the existence of a
tape that would be embarrassing for Trump were it to be released.CNNcarried
similar, but less detailed, allegations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on
Wednesdaydeniedthe
reports and called them "an absolute fiction" and "a total
bluff." Trump has called the reports "fake news" and dismissed
all that has been alleged..

The number one priority of patriotic Americans must be to expose all of the information and either keep Trump from taking office or set the stage for his criminal prosecution as soon as possible.

Throughout the presidential campaign fact checkers found that Donald Trump lied some 76% of the time. Not that it seemed to matter to his low information, racists and bigotry motivated base of support. Now, confronted with information that Russia has potentially salacious blackmail information on Trump or even worse that Trump and/or his staff may be guilty of treason, Der Fuhrer does what he always does and says it is all "Fake News." One can only hope that this time the news media and allied foreign intelligence services will ignore Trumps lies and go for the jugular and take the man down. I find Mike Pence very frightening, but he might be a safer alternative in some ways than the narcissistic, megalomaniac Trump. A piece in Politico looks at the growing firestorm that I hope consumes Trump and ends his presidency in its infancy. If Pence is implicated, it would be all the sweeter as the GOP becomes the party of treason. Here are article highlights:

Ten days before
he’s sworn in as president, Donald Trump is facing a potential crisis amid
reports that U.S. intelligence officials delivered a report to the
president-elect last week outlining allegations that Russia could have
compromising information about him.

Although the
details of these revelations remain murky and unverified, their publication
Tuesday night, on the eve of Trump’s first news conference since July, is
upsetting any post-election honeymoon and forcing him to confront what is, at
best, an uncomfortable public relations fiasco and potentially a new
geopolitical pressure point that could cast a shadow on his incoming
administration.

“FAKE
NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT,” Trump tweeted at 8:19 p.m. Tuesday, more
than two hours after the first reports began to surface.

On
Tuesday evening, multiple reports attributed to anonymous sources contended
that the nation’s four top intelligence chiefs informed President Barack Obama
and Trump of allegations that Russia had collected compromising and tawdry
personal information about the president-elect.

After
the first report surfaced, BuzzFeed published the longer, unverified document
that formed the basis of the two-page synopsis to the official report, which
had been classified, that details the kompromat — a Russian term for
compromising material — in graphic terms.

Trump, who
survived a devastating scandal a month before the election after a tape
surfaced of him bragging about his celebrity enabling him to get away with
grabbing women's genitals, has had remarkable success pushing past
controversies that would have sunk more conventional politicians and in
counterpunching his adversaries.

But this
situation is different — he's battling the nation's intelligence officers, not
rival politicians. Now, it's not his campaign in turmoil but a nascent
administration less than two weeks from inheriting the White House. And the
stakes go beyond politics. With a matter of national security and geopolitical
importance, Trump's uncanny ability to will his own, preferred alternative
reality into being may meet its limits.

“I have no idea
with Trump. You used to be able to say, ‘I think I know how this ends.’ But
there's no way to know now,” said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist.

Neera Tanden, a
longtime Clinton ally and the president of the Center for American Progress,
said Tuesday evening the new allegations should be fully investigated.

“The
intelligence dossier presents profoundly disturbing allegations; ones that
should shake every American to the core,” she said in a statement.

The new
allegations will provide fodder for critics hoping to block Trump’s planned
realignment with Russia. The critics fear Trump could grant Moscow a freer hand
in Syria, recognize Putin’s March 2014 annexation of Crimea, lift U.S.
sanctions, and even call for a reduced NATO presence in Eastern Europe.

At a minimum,
they are likely to make for uncomfortable moments at Wednesday’s confirmation
hearing for Trump’s nominee to be secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Several
Russia hawks from both parties on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were
already primed to grill Tillerson on his own relationship with Putin — with
whom he struck massive energy deals as CEO of ExxonMobil — as well as Trump’s
plans for U.S.-Russia policy.

While Sen. Jeff
Sessions, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, was grinding through the first
day of a long confirmation hearing, lawmakers in another hearing room were
questioning Comey. Asked by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) if his agency was currently
investigating any possible contact between Trump’s campaign and Russian
officials, Comey demurred, saying he couldn’t comment on the nature of any
current investigations.

Hours later, the
reports detailing the addendum to the official report revealed allegations of
an ongoing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates
and intermediaries for the Russian government.

Again, I hope the irresponsible press will this time smell blood in the water and go on a feeding frenzy that ultimately takes Trump down - and hopefully Pence with him.

As yesterday's final post indicated, there appears to be growing evidence that while Republican elected officials at all levels were prostituting themselves to Donald Trump and his basket of deplorables base, at Vladimir Putin personal direction Russia was compiling it blackmail dossier to use against Trump once he was elected with Russian intervention. But even worse, there is growing concern that the Trump campaign - and perhaps Trump himself - coordinated with Russian efforts to throw the election to Trump and undermine American democracy itself. A piece in Politico looks at the reality of what some members of Congress are reluctantly in some case beginning to have to face. Here are highlights:

Members of
Congress made clear Tuesday they're increasingly willing to broach a taboo
topic: possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian
government.

Their emboldened
approach comes amid a bombshell CNN report that
intelligence officials last week presented Trump with alleged claims by Russian
operatives that they have compromising information on the president-elect.
According to CNN, Trump was also presented with allegations there was an
"exchange of information" during the campaign between his surrogates
and intermediaries for the Russian government.

The subject is
one lawmakers have largely avoided discussing since the presidential election,
even as anti-Trump advocacy groups have sounded alarm bells about the
president-elect.

But that changed
Tuesday, during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's meddling in
November's election.

The hearing
followed Friday's release of an unclassified version of an intelligence
community investigation into Russia's interference in the election, which said
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence operation to undermine
Hillary Clinton and help Trump.

During the intelligence
hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) noted the extensive ties between Trump
advisers and the Russian government and pointed to an interview shortly after
the election in which a top Russian diplomat said his government had had
"contacts" with the Trump campaign.

Wyden then asked
FBI Director James Comey, "Has the FBI investigated these reported
relationships, and, if so, what are the agency's findings?"

Comey refused to
confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, saying he could not comment
publicly about such matters. His response raised some eyebrows among Democrats
and led to a biting response from Sen. Angus King (I-Maine): "The irony of
your making that statement here, I cannot avoid, but I'll move on."

During his
exchange with Comey, Wyden urged the FBI director to provide an unclassified
answer to his question before Inauguration Day, saying the American people
"have a right to know" whether the FBI is investigating possible ties
between the Trump team and Russia. "If it
doesn't happen before January 20th," Wyden said, "I'm not sure it's
going to happen."

And
the intelligence panel's ranking member, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), said the
committee's ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential
election should look specifically at possible coordination between the
presidential campaigns and the Russian government.

"In my
view, our committee investigation should focus on three broad areas," he
said, before listing them: "The Russian hacking and release of stolen
information; Russia's use of state-owned media and other means to amplify real
and fake news to further their goal; and contact between the Russian government
and its agents, and associates of any campaign and candidate."

On Sunday,
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also discussed the possibility of an
investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, suggesting that a probe
might already be underway. . . . Graham said he does not know whether there's
an active FBI investigation but made clear he wants a congressional
investigation into every aspect of Russia's election meddling.

Since the
election, lawmakers have largely sought to avoid making statements that would
appear to question Trump’s legitimacy.

But during the
campaign, then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a letter to
Comey, "it has become clear that you possess explosive information about
close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the
Russian government," urging Comey to make the information public.

Now, some
anti-Trump groups are seeking to raise awareness about the Trump camp's ties to
Russia.

"Whether
Trump's pandering to Putin is a result of Trump's potential ties to Russian
investors, impending business deals, or simply gratitude for Russia's hacking
on his behalf — it's clear that Trump for some reason feels beholden to
Putin," said the group's president, Jessica Mackler. "It's a disgrace
that Republicans are capitulating to Trump and standing by Trump's attacks on
the U.S. intelligence community and defense of Putin."

Until it is definitively proven otherwise, I will continue to believe that at best Trump is selling out America due to blackmail pressure from Vladimir Putin. Worse case, Trump could well be a full blown traitor. If the later is true, I hope he is exposed, tried for treason and sentence accordingly.

Translate This Page

Contact Me to Order Title Work

LGBT Legal Services

About Me

Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

Disclaimer on Opinions and Content

This Blog contains content that may be innapropriate for readers under the legal age of 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, PLEASE LEAVE NOW. Thank you

This is an opinion and commentary blog and the opinions and contents of this Blog - including opinions expressed concerning opponents of LGBT equality - are the opinions only of the individual blogger and should not be attributed to any other individuals or to any organization of which the blogger is a past or current member.

Followers

Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog.